Urban growth boundary policy and residential suburbanization: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The process of suburbanization of Riyadh, a city of 4.5 million inhabitants, offers a unique situation in which the urban morphology of the city can be examined in light of socio-political and economic conditions. Central government ordinances helped create ‘dysfunctional’ sprawl by mandating big lots and overly wide streets. Fifty percent of the city’s urban plan of approximately 1300 km² represents a pattern of untimely, undeveloped subdivisions. Much of this premature sub-divisioning was a result of speculative land deals. The current area of undeveloped subdivided land is approximately 650 km², which is roughly the equivalent to the city’s land currently developed.The author argues that government policies and inefficient urban planning practices have encouraged the transformation of the peripheral desert landscape into unchecked land sub-divisioning championed by land developers and speculators. Using a comparative approach, the paper attempts to highlight sociopolitical and other cultural factors that underlie this inefficient sprawl at the fringe. It closes with recommendations to alleviate such a costly pattern that can be generalized to other developing world cities.     

Managing urban growth and development in the Riyadh metropolitan area, Saudi Arabia

The paper examines public sector management of urban growth and development in the Riyadh Metropolitan Area, Saudi Arabia. The focus of the paper is on institutional capacity building and development intervention. The paper traces changes in public sector management structures and development activities over the history of the city with the aim of assessing development impact and identifying forces that have shaped the evolving state of urban management. The paper notes that urban management has significantly improved with time but the persistence of urban problems coupled with projections of future growth point to the need for further improvements. The paper, in conclusion, while acknowledging the utility of the metropolitan development strategy (MEDSTAR) being formulated for the city, points to the need for broader administrative reform to improve the ability to cope with long-term challenges of growth in the city. Some issues that reform could address are suggested.     

沙特政策调整及我应对政策

“9·11”后,沙美关系出现逆转。目前,沙特在内外压力下,决心实行自我改革计划。但保守的宗教阶层坚持伊斯兰化,反对变革;一些在阿富汗、伊战后潜伏在沙特的极端分子频频制造恐怖爆炸案,旨在动摇和推翻沙特王室统治。为化解冲击,纾缓压力,沙特在调整内外政策,除采取渐进式改革方式外,其外交多元化势头和“东向”趋势也较明显,对我需求和借重有所上升。我应认真研究沙特有关政策的变化动向,抓住机遇,推动中、沙关系向纵深发展。     

The architectural form and landscape as a harmonic entity in the vernacular settlements of Southwestern Saudi Arabia

The paper aims to describe the architectural form and landscape as a harmonic entity in vernacular settlements of southwestern Saudi Arabia. The qualities of vernacular settlements and their integration and responsiveness to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment are demonstrated in this study. The socio-economic activities and customs in southwestern Saudi Arabia are presented as part of the historical process. The paper looks at the major elements of the vernacular villages and landscape as cultural-specific images. While appreciating this, the author laments the way this harmony has been disrupted not least aesthetically as a consequence of modernism which had an impetus on changing life style and social expectation. The cultural-specific images involve direct relationships between the architectural and urban forms as systems and events that are taking place in or around that form. One thesis is that each element of the vernacular village and landscape is linked to an image that shapes and influences human behavior and appreciation, thereby helping to shape larger environmental patterns. Beyond the meaning that specific elements inherit, they have functional and economic values. As a result, their visual qualities are believed to be effective in enhancing behavior through their visual attributes. One of the most important conclusions is that, there are many features of modern village extensions and landscape elements that enhance the interaction with the physical environment that ordinary citizens value, and there are elements of the vernacular villages and landscape that people regret to lose, such as ‘qasabahs', weekly markets, cultivation of terraces, etc. This is inspite of today's, modern planning and design techniques that are being sought to produce new architectural forms and landscape elements. Any attempt to substitute vernacular forms without taking into account the values that the older forms held is considered a failure of adopted modernist attitudes.     

俄、沙关系发展的历史与现状

沙特一直与美国保持着稳定的友好关系,与俄罗斯的关系不冷不热、若即若离。然而,911事件使美、沙关系发生了转折性的变化,两国的战略同盟趋于松散。与此同时,俄沙关系开始升温。在沙特看来,俄可充当其第二把“保护伞”,也是安排世界石油格局的理想合作伙伴;而俄则视沙为其重返中东和解决车臣问题的希望,且沙特雄厚的石油资本还可助其经济发展一臂之力。     

沙特与伊朗在地区博弈中的代理人战略

近年来,沙特与伊朗在中东地区经常利用代理人战略开展竞争和博弈,具体表现为支持内战国家的代理人来改变战争进程与结果、扶植代理人进行权力竞争、利用代理人进行外交角力等。沙伊之间运用代理人进行博弈,既是两国的地缘政治对抗、教派纷争等结构性矛盾使然,也是由于代理方本身需借助外部力量实现政治与宗教目的。不过,受直接冲突与战争高成本及外部环境的约束,两国之间的博弈不会走向正面军事冲突。截至目前,沙伊的代理人战略加剧了中东政治生态的恶化,加快了地区阵营化、冷战化格局的演进,加深了中东国家政治的对抗性烈度。可以预见,施动方、代理方以及域内外大国关系的演绎将会对沙伊的代理人战略走向产生重大影响。     

The Impact of Islamic and Customary Laws on Urban form Development in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Urban form and architecture, whether religious or secular, does not rely only on principles of aesthetics to reflect its essence, but to a great extent reflects a society's religious and social demands. The article reviews Islamic law, shari^cah, and local customary laws, ^curf, and the influence they have had on the structural development of the urban form and architecture of the traditional highland settlements of southwestern Saudi Arabia. Although living conditions in Saudi Arabia are much changed today, the Islamic religion still plays a prominent role in everyday life. The paper argues that the architectural heritage in traditional villages may provide a more satisfactory basis for contemporary community design than the concepts now being implemented since Islamic law continues to influence the organizational characteristics of Saudi settlements. An analysis of physical elements shows how the principles underlying the structure of Islam and the tribal system are pertinent to each settlement's physical development. The conclusion is that the urban form resulted as a response to the Shari^cah and ^cUrf to verify the basic need for defense, climate and the community's social structure.     

穆斯林兄弟会与沙特关系的演变及影响

自1932年沙特建国以来,穆斯林兄弟会在沙特经历了初步发展、扩张和衰退三个阶段。二者从合作与相互利用的盟友关系逐渐演变为疏远与对抗的敌对关系。一方面,逃亡到沙特避难的穆兄会成员曾在帮助沙特政权反制埃及纳赛尔政权、推行泛伊斯兰主义战略等方面发挥了重要作用;另一方面,穆兄会成员在一定程度上促成了沙特宗教政治反对派的兴起,影响和培育了一批接受库特布思想的极端分子,对沙特政权的稳固及其国家安全造成了冲击。中东剧变以来,穆兄会势力的壮大削弱了沙特的地区影响力,制约了沙特外交政策的实施,导致沙特面临的地区安全环境进一步恶化。穆兄会与沙特关系的破裂直接反映出前者对沙特内政外交构成的威胁,是穆兄会思想与瓦哈比教义内在矛盾的逻辑结果。     

论沙特影响力：从《非斯宣言》到《贝鲁特宣言》

沙特是阿拉伯人的摇篮和伊斯兰教的发祥地。无论在冷战时期还是后冷战时代，沙特一直是中东地区的温和派国家。虽然没有像伊朗、伊拉克、土耳其、埃及、以色列那样拥有强大军事力量，沙特却凭借自身的实力阿拉伯活跃在国际政治舞台上，并深深影响着中东政治格局的发展，是中东政治舞台上不可或缺的重要角色。沙特力排众议，从非斯首脑会议到《贝鲁特宣言》、《利雅得宣言》，彰显出沙特作为地区大国的巨大影响力。     

欧盟与沙特阿拉伯王国的民主化进程

“9·11”后欧盟加大对沙特等海合会国家的关注力度，这对未来如何建立新型的西方与伊斯兰世界的关系有重要参考价值。欧盟推进沙特民主化进程的动机主要表现在四个方面：维护欧洲安全、促进沙特稳定、弘扬欧洲民主、抵消美国压力。欧盟主要从经贸领域着手，积极推进沙特更好地融入世界经济，此外，还辅以对其现行政治制度的宽容和对伊斯兰的理解与尊重。欧盟民主观建立在维护人权的基础上，其民主只是一种手段而非终极目标。在欧盟的间接影响下，沙特在地方选举、政府机构改革和发展、非暴力民间组织的诞生、妇女地位改善等方面有所推进。欧盟与沙特之间存在着良性互动。     

The Integration of Tradition and Modernity: A Search for an Urban and Architectural Identity in Arriyadh, The Capital of Saudi Arabia

About 40 years ago, traditional villages, towns and cities of the Arabian Peninsula started to lose their regional characteristics and embody modern forms and shapes. Since then, these characteristics have been subject to dilution due to social and cultural changes as well as institutionalized changes imposed by planning and architectural practices. This process creates debates and clashes between tradition and modernity. Projects carried out since 1975 are the least representative of the regional characteristics but do attempt to have urban and architectural identity. This paper argues that all the actors in “design formulation” (clients, architects, urban designers and planners) are trying to use historic elements in the creation of architectural identities. In fact they are making efforts to create urban and architectural identity to substitute regional characters. These attitudes flourished as a result of dynamic cultural, economic, political and ritualistic influences. This paper highlights the importance of urban and architectural identity in architectural and urban projects in Arriyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia because such projects create precedents for other Saudi villages, towns and cities. The study identifies the forces behind the initiation, transformation and evolution of the urban and architectural identity and attempts to supplement scholarship in the fields of architecture, urban design, and planning with regard to the role of identity as a tool for improving the spatial quality of the built environment. Architectural identity participates in setting up meaningful schemata which influences human behavior as a cultural process. The paper supports the concern for search for historic symbols which may influence the architectural identity and the quality of perceived environment during the design process of new or transformed physical environments. The paper views the traditional part of the city as an amalgamation of history and economic interests and its symbolic importance seems to be a perfect place for the emergence of different forms of engagement between tradition and modernity. The importance of the traditional part is unique while the importance of continuity of tradition is very likely complementary.     

加入世贸组织后沙特阿拉伯的政府管理

加入世贸组织是沙特的战略选择。在带来发展机遇的同时,世贸组织的规则也对沙特的政府管理提出了根本性挑战。特殊的国情和发展经历使沙特的政府管理正处于转型时期,其行政体制、法律体系、管理理念以及公务员队伍都与世贸规则的要求存在一定差距,经过近些年的改革和调整,沙特已在一些方面取得了进展,但存在的问题仍不容忽视。     

Forming an institutional culture with multinational administrators and teachers at Effat College,Saudi Arabia

This article describes the teaching and learning culture of a newly established women’s college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The academic culture at Effat College in 2002 included administrators and teachers from many nations, which created unique challenges in cross‐cultural communication. These challenges, in turn, affected the development and organization of the institutional culture at Effat. Using a cultural lens, archival data were used to analyze the expectations and relations between the multicultural faculty and administration at the college. Our research revealed that the faculty related to one another through their own cultural perspectives. Faculty from the western nations promoted more reflective and constructivist classrooms, while those from eastern nations were more authoritarian. With a diverse faculty from multiple nations holding significant differences in cultural expectations, it is important to acknowledge that all beliefs hold value and deserve respect. Whether or not people accept one another’s views, just having a more clear understanding of the differences may allow them to seek out commonalities and explain varying perspectives and actions. Therefore, we need to be conscious of the cultural assumptions faculty and administrators bring with them into higher education.     

加入世贸组织后沙特阿拉伯的政府管理

加入世贸组织是沙特的战略选择。在带来发展机遇的同时,世贸组织的规则也对沙特的政府管理提出了根本性挑战。特殊的国情和发展经历使沙特的政府管理正处于转型时期,其行政体制、法律体系、管理理念以及公务员队伍都与世贸规则的要求存在一定差距,经过近些年的改革和调整,沙特已在一些方面取得了进展,但存在的问题仍不容忽视。     

Factors Which Influence the Size of the Contemporary Dwelling: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This study investigates the phenomenon of building big dwellings in contemporary Saudi society. It relates the size of the contemporary villa-type dwelling with the traditional dwelling, and it compares it to a number of average (standard) international dwellings. It questions the rationale of its large size; hence, it argues against leaving this trend to continue unchecked. It further defines and discusses factors which influence the dwelling size, i.e. economic, socio-cultural, and new building practice and trade. The aim of this research is to draw attention to this phenomenon, to inform those involved in housing policy and design of the extent of size-related problems in terms of initial construction and furnishing cost and in terms of operating and maintenance life-cycle cost, and to call for further research to investigate its social, environmental, and economic impact on the country and its population.     

The transformation of Saudi Arabia’s rentier state and ‘the international’

ABSTRACT

The Saudi state is conventionally characterized as a neo-patrimonial rentier state that emerged out of a combination of traditional domestic social structures and oil wealth. However, the conceptualization of the rentier state as endogenously generated based on ‘traditional’ society is an example of Eurocentric institutionalism. In this article, I draw on literature that has sought to ‘internationalise’ the East Asian developmental state concept to show that Saudi rentier state formation has historically always been ‘international’. Thus, while Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman claims that his current economic reforms are opening up Saudi Arabia’s rentier economy to globalization, the restructuring of the rentier state is only the latest episode in this process, which was shaped by the colonial era in the Gulf and the transformation of an American-dominated global economy since World War II. The ‘internationalisation’ of the rentier state concept thereby also holds wider lessons for other neo-Weberian statist concepts such as failed or weak states.     

美国在沙特军事基地的战略演变

美国在沙特的军事部署经历了前沿行动基地、主要行动基地与合作安全基地三个阶段。决定其战略部署的主要因素包括美沙共同应对伊朗拥核崛起、伊拉克安全局势的恶化和海湾地区恐怖主义威胁的上升等。美国在沙特的军事基地加深了美国、沙特和伊朗之间的安全困境。同时,由于美沙双方在安全领域存在结构性互补关系,未来军事合作仍是美沙全方位合作的重点领域。     

Relationships between psychological capital,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment in the Saudi oil and petrochemical industries

During the past decade, Saudi Arabia experienced a significant social, economic, and organizational change. The rapid economic growth created a need for seasoned management professionals and necessitated the development of human capital. Psychological capital, a newly developed construct by academics and practitioners, is defined as the extent to which an individual operates in a positive psychological state, and this state is characterized by high self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency. By measuring the positive psychological constructs, an organization can learn about employees’ positive psychological states and how training and support can promote positive psychological states. Improving the positive psychological capital can lead to better organizational commitment, favorable organizational citizenship behaviors, lower employee absenteeism, and higher job satisfaction. This quantitative study examined the relationship among psychological capital, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment through a sample of managers in the Saudi Arabian oil and petrochemical industries.     

Stakeholders’ partnership approach to infrastructure provision and management in developing world cities: lessons from the Sustainable Ibadan project

In recent decades unprecedented urbanization has constituted a huge challenge to urban infrastructure development and management in most developing countries. Meanwhile, the appropriateness of conventional urban planning approaches to the improvement of urban environmental conditions in the face of deteriorating urban environment have often been questioned. It became inevitable to search for new approaches particularly in the context of low-income urban communities. International organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) have subsequently initiated strategies to evolve a participatory approach to the development and management of the urban environment. One of such strategies is the Sustainable City Programme (SCP) which aims to provide municipal authorities and city stakeholders in the public, private and community sectors with an enhanced capacity for environmental planning and management. The programme is being implemented in several cities in parts of the developing world, including Ibadan – the Sustainable Ibadan Project (SIP) – in Nigeria. This paper examines the partnership approach to urban environmental infrastructure improvement, development and management as represented by the SIP. The relevance of the participatory partnership approach of the SIP for cities in parts of developing regions is examined. The paper implicitly stresses that bottom-up participatory stakeholder partnership is a strategy capable of enlisting the financial, material resources and expertise of various sectors of the urban community towards the improvement of urban environmental infrastructure. The paper presents preliminary findings of a study. Although traditional appraisal techniques were not employed, nonetheless, the paper presents a discussion of the processes and dynamics of the SIP on the basis of which some useful lessons may be drawn.